


Insidious

by BunniesofDoom



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Family, Fever, Friendship, Gen, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Volume 4 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28735905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunniesofDoom/pseuds/BunniesofDoom
Summary: Ruby wakes up burning.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Ruby Rose, Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Insidious

**Author's Note:**

> I am once again ignoring how implausible this actually is in canon because this idea won't leave me alone. This is set in the early part of volume 4. Content warning for mentions of hospitals. Enjoy!

It starts, innocently enough, with a scrape.

It's the end of a long day and Ruby's aura is running low after their latest set of fights. So, when she notices the scrape on her side she just sighs and makes sure to clean it out thoroughly before bandaging it and collapsing into her sleeping bag. It's been a series of exhausting days since they fought the geist and Ruby discovered what Jaune was doing at night. Her mind has been whirling with what she should say to Jaune about what she knows (or if she should say anything) and the worry and guilt about her sister that refuses to go away no matter how much time passes and how much she shoves it down.

Oh, and then there's the nightmares of the Fall of Beacon, of Penny and Pyrrha dying. So yeah, Ruby could really stand to catch a break.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem like it's going to happen anytime soon. The next morning Ruby wakes up groggy and sore, and walking all day in the muggy heat only seems to make things worse. By the time they make camp for the night (half a day's walk from the nearest village, which is frustrating, but none of them want to risk making the journey in the dark) Ruby has barely enough energy to finish help setting up their arrangements before collapsing into bed.

Right before she's about to drift off, she belatedly realizes that she really should clean and redress the scrape on her side again. But she's so tired. Surely it can wait until morning, right?

Apparently not.

Ruby wakes up burning.

Gasping, she flings the top of her sleeping bag away from her, trying in vain to escape the overwhelming heat. When that has no effect, she pushes herself clumsily to her feet, staggering in the direction of the spring she remembers being nearby, with the hope of submerging herself in the water until she cools down some.

Her side throbs angrily as she moves, but she ignores it. The heat is unbearable.

"Ruby? What are you doing?"

Jaune is proud of himself for his reaction when he finds a delirious Ruby stumbling around the camp in the middle of the night: he takes a minute to panic, then forces himself to pull it together. He gently stops Ruby from wandering too far and wakes Ren and Nora, urging them to pack up camp and get a move on. Ruby is obviously sick, too sick for them to treat on their own, and the next village is large enough that it should have a doctor on site. It's their best chance.

He's proud of how quickly his team gets it together. Within minutes they've got everything packed up and they're on the move, Ren doing his best to mask their emotions and hide them from any Grimm that might be lurking nearby.

Team JNRR—no, team RNJR—has really come a long way.

The sun is rising on the horizon by the time they arrive in the village. Practically as soon as they set foot inside the town—and the few people that happen to be awake spot the obviously sick Ruby—their little group is ushered over to the building where the doctor works. Actually, this village is large enough that it's more like a proper hospital.

Ruby is whisked away from them and they're left to wait for what seems like an eternity in the small waiting room. Next to Jaune, Nora bounces anxiously, while on her other side Ren looks as stoic as ever. Jaune can feel the tension radiating off him, though.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Nora asks, uncharacteristically quiet, her green eyes wide with worry.

"I don't know," Jaune admits, not wanting to give her false hope. "I hope so. I'm sure that the doctors are doing everything they can." They've lost too many people already.

Just when Jaune is about to finally give in and ask if they can see their friend, a nurse appears at the door and gestures to him. He almost trips over his chair in his eagerness to comply, blushing as he rights himself before making his way over more cautiously.

"Your friend has an infected wound," the nurse tells him. "Her prognosis is looking good and she should recover fine with treatment, but at the moment she is refusing to calm down, which is putting unnecessary strain on her body. We don't want to sedate her, as that would also be too hard on her system while she is ill."

"I'll talk to her, try to get her to settle down somewhat," Jaune promises. Normally he would ask Ren to help him with Ruby, but his friend is already exhausted from shielding them from nocturnal Grimm. Jaune will have to take care of this one on his own.

He relays Ruby's diagnosis to Nora and Ren, asking them to try to find a place to stay while he goes to see Ruby, since the doctor is only allowing one visitor at a time right now. They agree, reluctantly exiting the clinic with only a few glances over their shoulders at him. Jaune sighs. The sun has only been up for an hour or so and he's already exhausted.

But there's no time to rest. With the rest of his team taken care of, he rolls his shoulders and goes to see Ruby. She looks too small against the stark white of her hospital bed, wrapped up in wires and tubes. Her face is pinched with pain and deathly pale under the flush from the fever. As soon as he steps into the room, glazed silver eyes lock onto his face.

"Jaune!" she mumbles urgently, slurring her words slightly. "You have to, have to warn Pyrrha! And Penny! They're, they're in danger!'

"I will," he promises quietly. He's not going to remind her of what actually happened when she's this out of it. "Why don't you get some rest? It'll make you feel better."

She shakes her head violently. "No, I can't," she insists weakly. "Yang. I have to—I need to tell her I'm sorry. For everything."

"Ruby, it's okay. I'm sure that Yang understands. Just please, get some sleep."

Again, she just shakes her head, mumbling incoherently under her breath about her sister. She's not settling down at all, and Jaune feels like a failure. How can he calm Ruby down when she's this worked up?

A sudden idea strikes him, and he digs through his pocket until he finds his scroll. Without thinking too much about what he's doing (because if he does, he'll realize that there's no way this could work), he scrolls through his contacts until he gets to Yang's number and dials it. Miraculously, the call connects and Yang's voice filters through the tinny speakers of his scroll. "Hello?"

Jaune quickly switches his scroll to speaker mode. "Hey, Ruby, it's Yang."

At the mention of his sister, Ruby goes rigid. "Yang?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, it's me. What's going on, Ruby?"

"Yang, 'm so sorry," Ruby sobs. "For everything." She trails off, continuing to mumble about how sorry she is.

Yang sighs. "It's okay, Ruby. I forgive you. I'm sorry for what I said too. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Ruby sniffles loudly, but already she's becoming calmer. "Thank'you, Yang."

"No problem, sis," Yang replies. "Now, Rubes, you're not sounding so good. Why don't you try to get some rest?"

Ruby's eyes are already half shut, but she still bobs her head in a tiny nod. "M'kay. Love you, Yang."

"I love you too."

By the time Yang finishes talking to Jaune, the sun is high in the sky. He tells her about what happened, about waking up in the middle of the night to find Ruby sick from an infected wound and rushing her to the hospital, how she'd been treated but wouldn't calm down, so he'd called her as a last resort and miraculously gotten through.

Or, more accurately, the hospital had a scroll signal extender that had allowed him to reach her. In the end, the result is the same. It's a relief to hear her sister's voice, but after the call Yang finds herself more worried than ever. Jaune promises to keep looking after her sister before he hangs up, leaving Yang alone in her room with just her thoughts for company.

She sighs heavily. So much for her seething jealousy and resentment at Ruby for going out on her adventures and leaving Yang behind. Her sister is out there risking her life, constantly in danger, and Yang isn't there to protect her and have her back.

Well. Yang looks over at the prosthetic arm that her father had presented to her so excitedly, waiting eagerly to be tried out. She can keep moving forwards. It's all up to her to decide what to do.

She's got work to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please comment and leave kudos if you liked it.


End file.
